A mounting device of this kind is known in practice in which the tool, in the form of a suction needle, is stationary while the printed circuit board carrier is a coordinate carriage which can be moved in the x- and y-directions. The printed circuit board carrier is combined with the supply means and thus also accommodates the components provided for mounting as well as the printed circuit boards on which they are to be mounted. Above the tool there is also a stationary microscope by means of which a specific region about the free end of the tool provided to receive the component can be viewed.
To mount the printed circuit boards a printed circuit board carrier is moved into a delivery position in which the component to be mounted lies exactly beneath the tool and on its axis. The tool is then lowered to take the component from the printed circuit board carrier and then lifted again. A further movement of the printed circuit board carrier into a mounting position brings the point of the printed circuit board at which the component is to be mounted exactly beneath and on the axis of the tool. The tool is then lowered to place the component on the printed circuit board on to which it is to be attached. After again raising the tool the mounting cycle can begin again.
A further mounting device is known in practice in which the printed circuit board carrier is stationary and the tool can be moved. The mounting procedure is carried out with this device using the same sequence of steps as in the device described above, but is reversed kinematically in that the tool instead of the printed circuit board carrier is moved between the pick-up positions for picking up a component from the supply means and the mounting positions to place the component on the printed circuit board.
The known mounting devices described above are constructionally designed so that only one of the two units moves from a first mounting position into a delivery or pick-up position and thereafter back into a subsequent mounting position that is different from the first mounting position. This sequence of movements between constantly changing mounting positions and pick-up and delivery positions must be adhered to and requires an indexing device which, if it is used to determine exactly the respective position to be moved to, has a relatively complicated and expensive construction. Furthermore, to cover the paths between the individual positions takes the movable unit a corresponding period of time.